#18ThingsVRMightBe: On-the-Ground News
News Beyond A Screen
The face of news and journalism changes with technology. Television, cable television, the Internet, the social web, all of these have changed how news organizations deliver their content and interact with their audiences. With more recent technological advents like drones and mobile phones paired with Twitter or Periscope, journalism continues to mutate.
One of the Ferguson, Missouri protests was my first visceral reaction to a news item. Being from St. Louis and living in Missouri at the time, I had loose idea of what was happening in Ferguson since the shooting. But, it wasn’t until I watched the riots live through a protester’s phone that I really felt news.
As I watched my impromptu cameraman run around Ferguson, I saw police fire gas or smoke bombs, I watched as people from different sides yelled at each other, I heard screams, I witnessed a group of people huddle in a car for safety, and I saw those same people offer safety to others.
Depending on the story and individual background, we all have reactions to the news. However, the more real it feels the more we empathize with the people there. Before the Internet and television, would we be as empathetic when a tsunami strikes another country?
I wager that virtual reality will be another technological advancement towards empathetic news.
Like my drawing for this article, we could watch the news — not in a studio with an image of the scene floating off the shoulder of an anchor — rather, we can watch the story happen all around the anchor and ourselves. With VR and spherical-capture cameras, we can get the same visuals as though we were there. We can each look where we want. We can each lookout over war-torn lands, flooded streets, or post-earthquake cities.
No more would we look distantly through a 16:9 box. The increased visceral nature will help us empathize even more with our fellow humans.
